The modern NBA is developing into a paradise for promising young hotshots fresh from the hardwoods of college basketball. Likewise, it’s not just fresh players that are changing the face of the Association. The focus in the last decade has been turning to the point guard position.
Point guards started coming to prominence prior to the mid-2000s, but the modern game really took off when Chris Paul, Deron Williams and Tony Parker graced the court with exemplary exhibitions of excellence. And the growth didn’t stop there. Next was Derrick Rose from Memphis, Russell Westbrook from UCLA and Rajon Rondo from Kentucky who begun slicing through competition.
It expanded, bringing in the early all-around heroics of Kyrie Irving in 2011 and this year, Damian Lillard.
The league even made room for the likes of Ricky Rubio, Jeremy Lin and Brandon Jennings. Yet somehow, John Wall became the unwanted castaway in the group of popular kids around this pseudo-pro-basketball high school.
How unfortunate.
Fans and analysts alike only remember superlatives when it comes to the short careers of NBA athletes. Lin and Rubio became international superstars overnight. Lillard has been making game-winners since the beginning of his professional career. Jennings exploded for 55 points less than a month into his.
Looking at the second year for the aforementioned point men, successes have come a dime a dozen. Rose won the MVP in his second season with the Chicago Bulls. Parker and Rondo both won championships in their second campaign with their respective teams. But for Wall? The former 2010 No. 1 overall draft pick isn’t another Kwame Brown-like bust — he’s been held back by different circumstances.
In his first two seasons with the Washington Wizards, Wall averaged better numbers than Williams, Rondo and Parker (around 16 points and eight assists) respectively. Although the stats speak for themselves, statistics don’t display the full capabilities of a floor general.
Wall’s career has been riddled with setbacks that kept him from reaching his true potential. Unlike many other guards who received big money deals, Wall hasn’t really had the opportunity to shine as much as the front office would like to see. Aside from dealing with a team full of bad attitudes and low potential during his rookie stint (Nick Young, Andray Blatche, JaVale McGee), Wall has been injury prone.
The following season was a lockout year. He couldn’t benefit from a real training camp and lost out on 16 games. Then just before the start of his third season, Wall sustained a stress injury to his left knee that shelved him away until Jan. 7, taking another 33 games of assessment and improvement off the table.
The former Kentucky Wildcat is averaging 16.6 points and 8.1 assists in what would be an assumed 184 games by the end of this season. Even with that much playing time, it would still be difficult as a front office to calculate whether or not Wall is deserving of a lucrative extension without seeing his full potential.
Keep reading to hear what Wall says about being a franchise guy…
That being said, the Wizards’ front office may already be close to extending Wall’s contract, according to a report from J. Michael of CSN Washington:
Will the Wizards give John Wall a max contract? According to several persons with knowledge of the situation who talked with CSN Washington, all the signals point to the answer being yes.
For the embattled point guard, of course, rewarding him with a max contract is a no-brainer.
“If they believe I’m their franchise guy, that I’m the max player that I feel that I am, they’ll do what’s best for them,” Wall told CSN. “I feel like they believe in me. My coaches and my organization believe in me. The owner (Ted Leonsis) and GM (Ernie Grunfeld) believe in me. … They like what I’ve been doing lately.”
For Wall to secure an extension with the Wizards, he still needs to solidify his position with the franchise. The guard has a habit of breaking out for big scoring habits at the tail end of losing seasons. It’s happening again this season.
In the last 22 games of his rookie season, Wall averaged 18.8 points, 2.4 steals, 6.7 assists and 5.5 rebounds a game in over 38 minutes per contest. Similarly in the last 31 games of his sophomore season, Wall dished out 8.5 assists per game with barely any days rest and a shortened schedule.
The trend is continuing again for Wizards’ starting point guard this year. In the month of March, he’s averaging 22.4 points, 7.9 assists and two steals per game with recognizably less turnovers than in February… not to mention the 47-point breakout game he had against one of the best defenses in the league, the Memphis Grizzlies.
But outside of being an extremely athletic, quick, and secure-handed guard, Wall always lacked the ability to shoot consistently from the perimeter.
To improve his jumper, Wall moved to Los Angeles to work with Rob McClanaghan, who schooled Westbrook and Rose on their perimeter game. This was the same coach that helped Rose win an MVP and Westbrook reach a Finals appearance just by working to adjust a jump shot.
Since working with McClanaghan, Wall is shooting 44.3 percent from the field this season. Wall also tripled his makes from beyond the arc and is shooting over 31 percent from there as well. The former Wildcat will never shoot like Irving or Steph Curry, but as long as he shoots accurately enough, defenders will have to learn how to guard a new element of his game. Because of that, Wall will be in the discussion for a new contract this summer.
The Wizards are 22-18 when he plays and a miserable 5-28 when he’s sidelined, and Wall is one of only three players that averages 18 points and eight assists per 36 minutes this season (even though he missed more than a quarter of the campaign). He’s the only spark left for the Wizards.
Wall still needs improvement being a floor general in this league and that doesn’t come overnight. But when it’s placed next to four or five years and somewhere near $80 million, it starts developing a little faster.
Should Washington give Wall a max deal?
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